


Blood Sacrifice

by crookedspoon



Series: Days Gone By [60]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Community: 31_days, F/M, Forced Marriage, Wedding Night, Wordcount: 100-1.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-23
Updated: 2013-04-23
Packaged: 2017-12-21 21:02:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/904892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crookedspoon/pseuds/crookedspoon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She couldn’t refuse, couldn’t argue that this was unfair, that they did not love each other, because what role does love play in this?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blood Sacrifice

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written on Apr 23, 2013 for the Apr 25 prompt "This isn't personal." on 31_days @ LJ.

“I’m sorry, they expect us to.”

His words – spoken as though he had no part in this, as if only her life were affected – set her eyes aflame. _What about you?_ she wants to ask, not without reproach. _Why did you bow to their will if it’s so disagreeable? Why did you not oppose them when you could?_

But it’s not his fault. Once the ceremony started, it was out of his hands. He didn't want this either, did he?

“It’s alright. I don’t blame you.”

Expectation, duty, and sacrifice constrict his life; he can't go anywhere they don't breathe down his neck. Without room for self-fulfillment, how does he grow, she wonders. Does he never want to break out? How can he take it?

_You’ll find no happiness in following a path that others dictate._

What an easy thing to say. She herself couldn’t refuse, couldn’t argue that this is unfair, that there was no love involved, because -- what role has love in this? It’s just another task they must fulfill, their duty as pure Quincy.

“I should be sorry. That they couldn’t find you a better match.”

They’re both on the altar now, bleeding into the ridges. Katagiri told her this could happen: blood on the sheets, but not how. Blood – the key component, the reason, the future. His blood and hers, and nobody else’s.

“Don’t be silly.”

He’s gentle enough; he tries, but his heart’s not in it. The Quincy cross – a gift from his father, to commemorate this day – dangles between their chests, glinting in the half-light.

So they share the same burden. She will shoulder it; the least she can do to repay him.

“There is no better match.”

The cross chills her skin, and when his mouth claims hers, her soul screams for another.


End file.
